Push for 'pay as you weigh' flights

ACADEMIC calls for &quot;pay as you weigh&quot; flights so airlines can recoup the cost of the extra fuel required to carry larger people. Is this fair?

NewsComAuMarch 27, 20131:03pm

AN ACADEMIC is calling for 'pay as you weigh' flights so airlines can recoup the cost of the extra fuel required to carry larger people.

Writing in this month's Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management publication, Dr Bharat P Bhatta said weight and space should be taken into account when airlines price their tickets.

Dr Bhatta, of the Sogn og Fjordane University College in Norway gives three options for implementing the concept of charging by weight, including a straightforward price per kilogram and a fixed low fare with heavier passengers paying a surcharge and lighter passengers being offered a discount.

"I think the simplest way to implement this would be for passengers to declare their weight when buying a plane ticket," Dr Bhatta Sogn og Fjordane University College told London’s Daily Telegraph. "This would save time and eliminate expense.

"At the airport airlines could randomly select passengers and if they lied about their weight they would have to pay the fat fare and a penalty."

Dr Bhatta said charging according to weight and space was a universally accepted principle, not only in transportation, but also in other services.

"As the airline industry is fraught with financial difficulties, marginally profitable and has seen exponential growth in the last decade, maybe they should be looking to introduce scales at the check-in."